Mapping chicken flu virus offers clues about deadly H7N9 bird flu

December 30, 2014 11:06 AM

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Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers - led by members from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, and China Agricultural University in Beijing - conclude it is important to keep an eye on chicken flu viruses for signs of pandemic potential.

They found changes in the H9N2 chicken virus that could serve as an early warning signal of flu viruses with potential to create a human pandemic.